Kentucky State’s basketball teams celebrated Senior Night with two wins over Clark-Atlanta Thursday at the Exum Center.
The Thorobreds (9-16, 9-13 SIAC) defeated Clark-Atlanta (22-5, 19-5 SIAC) 70-65 while the KSU women (16-10, 16-6 SIAC) won 62-45.
In a ceremony prior to the men’s game, K-State honored its senior basketball players – Latrice Watkins, Jessica Vaughn, Jarrod Gay and Parysh Munroe.
KENTUCKY STATE 70, Clark-Atlanta 65 (M)
Gay celebrated Senior Night in a big way, going 5-for-6 from 3-point range and scoring a game-high 22 points in the Thorobreds’ upset.
KSU led just 67-65 with 33 seconds left in Thursday’s game. William Marsh made one of two free throws to put K-State up 68-65.
After a missed shot by the Panthers, KSU’s Jamal Charles hit two free throws to seal the win.
The Thorobreds shot 48 percent from the field, including 46.7 percent (7-for-15) on 3-pointers.
Tony Johnson was also in double figures for Kentucky State with 11 points, and he had a game-high seven rebounds.
Rounding out the scoring for KSU were Munroe with nine points, Patrick Dawson and Marsh with seven points each, Charles with six, Alex Somerville with four, and Jabari Wright and Julian Brown with two points each.
Gay had six rebounds and three steals, and Marsh had six assists and three steals.
Najee Lane and David Brown led CAU with 16 points each.
KSU closes out the regular season at home Saturday against Morehouse. Tip-off is 3 p.m.
Kentucky State will honor Travis Grant, its first national collegiate basketball Hall of Fame inductee, during halftime of Saturday’s game.
KENTUCKY STATE 62, Clark-Atlanta 45 (W)
The Thorobrettes had little trouble with Clark-Atlanta, jumping out to a 37-27 halftime lead and extending their advantage during the second half.
KSU shot 45 percent from the field while holding Clark-Atlanta to 30 percent shooting.
K-State’s Stephanie Harper was 9-for-11 from the field and scored a game-high 18 points.
Kiera Nelson and Tasia Smith were also in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Harper led KSU in rebounding with eight boards, and Jessica Vaughn had seven rebounds and three assists.
Also scoring for the Thorobrettes were Vaughn with eight points, Shana McCombs with seven, Kiki Morgan with six, and Asia DuBose with two points.
Morgan had six blocked shots.
Clark-Atlanta (3-24, 3-19 SIAC) was led by Mauriecia Sewell with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Thorobrettes don’t play again until the SIAC tournament, which will be played March 2-6 in Atlanta.